The good people at the Aquinas Center for Theological Renewal at Ave Maria University are at it again. Every other year they put on a conference devoted directly to theological themes in Aquinas, while in the interceding year they have a conference on some feature of Catholic doctrine and practice. This year they are holding a conference on Aquinas's commentary on the Letter to the Romans, from February 5-7, 2009 (need the text of Thomas's commentary on Romans? Click here). The conference, entitled "Reading Romans with St. Thomas Aquinas: Ecumenical Explorations," brings together the following ecumenical cast of speakers:

Bernhard Blankenhorn, OP

Markus Bockmuehl

Hans Boersma

John Boyle

Edgardo Colon-Emeric

Holly Taylor Coolman

Adam Cooper

Scott Hahn

Mary Healy

Paul Keller, OP

Matthew L. Lamb

Matthew Levering

Bruce Marshall

Emmanuel Perrier, OP

Charles Raith

Patrick Henry Reardon

Michael Root

Michael Sherwin, OP

Gregory Vall

Geoffrey Wainwright

Michael Waldstein

Robert Louis Wilken

David S. Yeago

You can download the general conference flyer (PDF), and the conference registration (PDF). Register early, they say, because space is limited.

On a personal note, I have gone to all the Aquinas-specific conferences save the first, and have found them all to be profoundly informative. In a time when both travel budgets and time are tight, this is my only "can't miss" conference every year, topping even Kalamazoo. And the new digs at Ave Maria University form a lovely conference space—especially in early February!

Mark Johnson is an associate professor of Theology at Marquette University, and founded thomistica.net on Squarespace in November of 2004. He studied with James Weisheipl, Leonard Boyle, Walter Principe, and Lawrence Dewan, at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (Toronto, Canada).